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36 Hours at the Grand Canyon

Navajo hoop dancers performing near the south rim of the canyon.Credit
David Kadlubowski for The New York Times

MORE than a mile deep at its most majestic, the Grand Canyon can still drop the most jaded of jaws. The sun sparkling across the exposed rock, the delicate curl of the Colorado River, the birds chirping in the pinyon pines — and then a bus grinds past you on a hunt for the best postcards in the park. Yes, the Grand Canyon is big in every way, including the category of tourist trap. Over four million people visit this remote corner of Arizona each year, and the experience can be a bit “death by gift shop,” if you don’t plan ahead — a necessity even if crowds and kitsch are your thing. During peak season, May through September, hotel rooms sell out months in advance, ditto for those mule rides, and certain rafting trips can be a year-long wait or more. Ah, wilderness!

Friday

5 p.m.1)THE MAIN EVENT

Save the best for last? Not on this trip. After driving the 81 miles from Flagstaff, Ariz., the destination where most air travelers land, head to El Tovar Hotel (Grand Canyon Village, 928-638-2631; www.grandcanyonlodges.com) The historic lodge, purposely built at such an angle that guests must leave their rooms to see more than a glimpse of the splendor, features one of the easiest access points to the canyon rim. Stretch your legs with a walk along the eastern portion of the 13-mile rim trail, which may leave you out of breath at 7,000 feet above sea level. Resist the temptation to go off the trail; park officials say about one person a year falls and dies and others are injured.

7:30 p.m.2)EAT HEARTY, FOLKS

El Tovar may look familiar — the exterior of the hotel had a cameo in “Vacation,” the 1983 road-trip movie. Clark Griswold, a k a, Chevy Chase, pulls up in his pea-green station wagon and robs the front desk. He should have at least eaten dinner first. The restaurant at El Tovar (928-638-2631, ext. 6432) is by far the best in the area. As twin fireplaces blaze, relax with an Arizona Sunrise (orange juice, tequila and grenadine; $5.99) and take in the wall-mounted Hopi and Navajo weavings. For dinner, start with a house salad with pinyon vinaigrette ($7.40) and pick between the venison rib chops ($35.40) and beef tenderloin with wild shrimp ($34.90) for the main course.

10 p.m.3)STAR STRUCK

If dinner got a bit pricey, take comfort in a free show afterward. Because there is so little pollution here — the nearest cities, Phoenix and Las Vegas, are both 200 miles or more away — the night sky is crowded with stars. Pick up one of the free constellation-finder brochures in the lobby of El Tovar and gaze away. Bonus points for anybody who can find the Lesser Watersnake constellation.

The canyon’s multiple layers of exposed rock are glorious in the morning light; download the soundtrack to “2001: A Space Odyssey” as a dawn complement — the combination heightens the experience even further. Take a morning run or walk along the rim trail heading west and keep your eyes peeled for woodpeckers making their morning rounds. Don’t bother trying to make it to Hermit’s Rest, a 1914 stone building named for a 19th-century French-Canadian prospector who had a roughly built homestead in the area. These days, it’s — you guessed it — a gift shop and snack bar.

Those famous mules? Buy the postcard. The animals smell, walk narrow ledges carved into the canyon wall and come with a daunting list of rules. (Reads one brochure: “Each rider must not weigh more than 200 pounds, fully dressed, and, yes, we do weigh everyone!”) Join the modern age and tour the canyon aboard an Eco-Star helicopter, an energy-efficient model built with more viewing windows. There are several tour companies that offer flights, but Maverick Helicopters (Grand Canyon National Airport on Highway 64; 928-638-2622; www.maverickhelicopter.com/canyon.php) has a new fleet and friendly service. The tours are personal — seven passengers maximum — and are priced according to the length of the trip, with the longest being about 45 minutes at $225 per person. Ask the pilot to point out the Tower of Ra, a soaring butte named for the Egyptian sun god.

12 p.m.6)PACK A PICNIC

The nearest town and the location of the heliport, Tusayan, Ariz., is a disappointing collection of fast-food restaurants, motels and souvenir shops. Get out of Dodge and pick up lunch at the deli counter tucked inside the general store at Market Plaza (located a mile or two inside the park gates; 928-638-2262). It’s nothing fancy — pastrami sandwiches and the like for about $5.95 — but it will at least save you from an order of junk food.

1 p.m.7)DESERT VIEW

Hitting this tourist hotspot at midday will keep you clear of the throngs that assemble for sunrise and sunset. The view is still stupendous. From the historic Desert View Watchtower (26 miles past Market Plaza on Highway 64 East; www.scienceviews.com/parks/watchtower.html), constructed in 1932, you can see the Painted Desert, a broad area of badlands where wind and rain have exposed stratified layers of minerals, which glow in hues of violet, red and gold. Park rangers give daily talks about the area’s cultural history.

3 p.m.8)PLAY ARCHAEOLOGIST

Outdoorsy types will want to do another hike — more power to them. For those who have had enough of the canyon for one day, another of the area’s cultural treasures still waits to be explored. About 800 years ago, Wupatki Pueblo (about 34 miles north of Flagstaff on Highway 89; 928-679-2365; www.nps.gov/wupa) was a flourishing home base for the Sinagua, Kayenta Anasazi and Cohonina peoples. The remnants of 100 rooms remain, including a space that archaeologists identified as a ball court, similar to those found in pre-Columbian cultures.

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If heights aren’t your thing, relax: You’ve made it through the hard part of the Grand Canyon. Regroup after the drive back to civilization (or what passes for it here) with ice cream cones on the patio at Bright Angel Lodge (about two blocks west of El Tovar; 928-638-2631; www.grandcanyonlodges.com), which features an old-fashioned soda fountain. It no longer carries Grand Canyon Crunch — the coffee ice cream with caramel swirls and chocolate chip chunks was too expensive to manufacture in limited quantities — but try a strawberry shake ($4.86). Inside the rustic motel is a newsstand, one of the few in the park.

7 p.m.10)DINNER AND A DANCE

Apart from the dining room at El Tovar, the food here can be alarmingly bad. But give the Arizona Room (929-638-2631; www.grandcanyonlodges.com/dining-418.html) inside the Bright Angel a whirl. The dishes are a mouthful in name — chili-crusted, pan-seared wild salmon with fresh melon salsa and pinyon black bean rice pilaf, $22.15 — if not exactly in quality. The good news: window tables overlook the canyon. Afterward, hang out around the stone fireplace in the lobby. With any luck, you will catch one of the randomly presented Hopi dancing demonstrations.

Sunday

10 a.m.11)WILD SIDE

Kaibab National Forest, 1.6 million acres of ponderosa pine that surrounds the Grand Canyon, is a destination on its own for nature lovers and camping enthusiasts. After saying goodbye to the world’s most famous hole in the ground, stop on the way back to Flagstaff to explore the Kendrick Park Watchable Wildlife Trail (Highway 180, about 20 miles north of Flagstaff; www.wildlifeviewingareas.com). Elk, badgers, western bluebirds and red-tailed hawks are relatively easy to see, along with short-horned lizards and a variety of other forest creatures. The Grand Canyon area is also home to scorpions, tarantulas, rattlesnakes and Gila monsters — but those are (mostly) confined to the canyon itself.

THE BASICS

Numerous airlines fly between New York area airports and Flagstaff, Ariz., including US Airways, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Most flights require a connection. Round-trip fares for travel in June start at around $300, according to a recent Web search.

El Tovar Hotel (off of Village Loop in Grand Canyon Village; 888-297-2757 ; www.grandcanyonlodges.com/el-tovar-409.html ) is by far the most upscale lodging in the area. It’s also centrally located and sports a recent $5.2 million renovation. Rates for a standard double room start at $174 a night.

Also nearby is Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins (a short walk from El Tovar; 888-297-2757; www.grandcanyonlodges.com/bright-angel-lodge-408.html), a cabin-style motel built in the 1930s that is bare bones but surprisingly comfortable following a $2 million sprucing up in 2007. Standard rooms with a private bath start at $90 a night; rim cabins start at $142.

More modern options are available outside the park in Tusayan, Ariz., but amenities are slim. Red Feather Lodge (106 North Highway 64; 866-561-2425; www.redfeatherlodge.com) is as good a motel as any. Standard rooms with king-size beds start at $149.